political

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan to discuss the ongoing international efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

During the call, Ghani “expressed his gratitude for Pakistan’s sincere facilitation of these efforts” that were initiated by US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Khan assured the Afghan president that Pakistan was making “sincere efforts for a negotiated settlement” of the Afghan conflict through an inclusive peace process, “as part of shared responsibility”.

Ghani invited the premier to visit Afghanistan at his earliest convenience and Khan reciprocated by inviting the Afghan president to visit Pakistan.

“Both leaders also agreed to remain engaged and create an environment for resolving all outstanding issues,” the press release said.

The conversation between the two leaders comes as Khalilzad earlier today arrived in Pakistan as part of a regional tour to four countries for talks on the Afghan peace process.

According to the Foreign Office, the US special envoy is expected to meet Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders during his stay and he will ask Pakistan to help convince the Afghan Taliban to come to the negotiating table. “Pakistan has also maintained [that] we want an Afghan-led Afghan-owned solution to [the] imbroglio,” the FO spokesperson said in a statement.

Pakistan is believed to be making serious efforts to arrange a meeting between Khalilzad and Afghan Taliban leaders in Islamabad to help break the deadlock and speed up the Afghan peace process.

The US envoy is actively trying to broker a political solution to the Afghan conflict and has held multiple meetings with the leadership of Afghanistan as well as that of other countries in the region, including Pakistan.

He has also held three rounds of talks with the Afghan Taliban in order to reach a settlement that would allow the US to withdraw its army and end a 17-year-old war — America’s longest.

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan took to Twitter on Tuesday morning and strongly criticised the opposition in the parliament for staging a walkout from the house by terming it “tactics’ of seeking a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

READ MORE: PM Imran Khan slams opposition for walking out from NA
The National Reconciliation Ordinance was a controversial ordinance issued by the former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, on 5 October 2007.

“Billions of rupees are expended on the parliament, whereas the opposition simply walks out of it. This is their strategy of escaping NAB cases,” he said, adding that such cases were not filed by the PTI.

In a Parliament that costs taxpayers billions yearly, yet another walkout in NA by the Opposition shows that this is the only function they intend to perform. These are pressure tactics to seek an NRO & evade accountability for corruption in NAB cases not initiated by PTI.

During a session of the NA on Monday, the opposition walked out of the House as opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif demanded that there be a rebidding for the contracts of the Mohmand dam as the entire procedure seemed questionable.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah believes that former president and PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari will not be sent to jail in the fake accounts cases.

In an interview with a private television channel Saturday, Sanaullah said that there was no implementation of the death sentences awarded by military courts till May 31, 2018.

“All the orders were stopped on different forums and at different stages due to which there was no effect of the orders,” he said.

He remarked that the military courts were formed under extraordinary circumstances. No death sentences have been implemented in Punjab till today, he said. “There is a problem with the execution system, hence no alternative system was introduced in these four years.”

He raised objections to the JIT report in the fake accounts case and the decision against Nawaz Sharif.

ISLAMABAD: While the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s efforts as well as plans against money laundering, India continues to raise questions about terror financing.

“The proceedings went well and almost all the FATF members appreciated measures taken by Pakistan and actions planned by it,” sources told after the conclusion of a three-day conference in Sydney, Australia.

The sources said that India kept asking questions about the measures Pakistan had taken against Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and other such organisations. It dem­anded that the steps be made public.

The Pakistani delegation explained that all the actions recommended by the FATF had been taken and a compliance report submitted to its headquarters.

The delegation also made it clear that it would be the Pakistan government’s decision whether or not to publicize actions taken against banned organisations and would not succumb to desires of any specific member.

Most other members seem satisfied with Islamabad’s efforts against money laundering, terror financing

Pakistani officials also made it clear that they would not respond to verbal questions from adversaries but would be ready to provide comprehensive responses if written queries were submitted.

The sources said the Indian delegates then filed a total of 28 questions with the FATF, which were shared with the Pakistani delegation.

Pakistan assured the FATF that responses to the questions would be provided in the next review meeting scheduled to be held in Paris on Feb 17-18. All the questions raised by the Indian delegates pertained to actions taken to block terror financing.

The sources said that Pakistan also told the FATF that there was no need for amendments to anti-money laundering laws and the Paris-based financial watchdog accepted Pakistan’s view.

While the action plan presented by Pakistan was accepted by the FATF as reasonable, the country would now follow up with implementation through strengthening of agencies and processes to combat money laundering and terror financing under international obligations.

The Pakistani delegation was led by Finance Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan and comprised representatives of the State Bank of Pakistan, National Counter Terrorism Authority, Federal Investigation Agency, Federal Board of Revenue and Financial Monitoring Unit.

An official claimed that the FATF had highlighted a few matters that were doable by May this year, but progress would need to be registered by February this year. A broader examination of the full compliance with international commitments will take place at another meeting in May, possibly in Sri Lanka or Australia.

Officials said the FATF had gone through the report dispatched by Pakistan last week before the review meetings with the Pakistani delegation involving questions and answers about the performance so far and the way forward. They said the FATF team appeared convinced over the steps and measures taken by the authorities to combat terror financing and money laundering in line with the UN resolutions.

The Pakistani delegation explained the implementation status of plans for various government agencies. Its report identified Pak-Afghan and Pak-Iran borders as key routes for terror financing and money laundering and reported that a total of 4,643 suspected transactions had been identified and blocked since 2015, including 3,677 suspected transaction reports and 966 financial intelligence reports.

A total of 1,167 transactions were seized last year alone, including 975 STRs and 210 financial intelligence reports.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that a request has been made to the UK Central Authority regarding absconding PML-N leader Ishaq Dar’s extradition and that the ministry now awaits a response.

A three-judge bench headed by the chief justice was hearing a case related to Dar’s non-appearance before the apex court in a corruption case pertaining to owning assets approximately valued at Rs831.7 million, disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar wondered if any “practical work” has been done to repatriate Dar who left the country for the United Kingdom in 2017 and has not returned since despite multiple summons by the apex court.

“Why haven’t any funds been recovered from Ishaq Dar, Fawad Hassan Fawad and Ataul Haq Qasmi?” the top judge questioned, adding that funds also had to be recovered from PML-N’s Pervaiz Rasheed.

The principle information officer apprised the court that a “two-month deadline lapsed yesterday so notices for recovery will be sent today.”

Justice Ijazul Ahsan recalled that the National Accountability Bureau had to write a letter to the British government for Dar’s extradition.

“I don’t think that the Foreign Office has played any role on this issue,” the chief justice interjected.

At this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ representative told the court that the Foreign Office had already written to the UK Central Authority. “Now their reply is awaited,” the representative added.

The chief justice reiterated his disappointment at Dar’s failure to appear before the court before adjourning the case for a month.

Dar, the ex-finance minister in the PML-N government, has been in London since October 2017 owing to what his counsel claims is “a medical issue”.

In December 2017, an accountability court had declared him an absconder after he failed to appear in a corruption reference against him. He is accused of amassing assets beyond his known sources of income.

In May 2018, the Supreme Court had suspended his Senate membership, while in June 2018, the interior ministry had issued red warrants against him.

RAWALPINDI: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeemul Haq on Saturday distanced the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from the announcement by Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed that he would challenge in court the appointment of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman.

Speaking at a news conference here on Saturday, Mr Haq defended the government’s decision to nominate Mr Sharif as the PAC head, saying the opposition leader had assured the government through National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser that he would not preside over the meetings of the committee when the audits of the projects undertaken during the term of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government would come up before it.

Denying any differences within the ruling coalition over the issue, Mr Haq said that Prime Minister Imran Khan agreed to Mr Sharif’s nomination as the PAC head as the opposition had stalled the legislative process in parliament by refusing to become part of its committees if the opposition leader was not offered the PAC’s chairmanship.

He said the government wanted to carry out some important legislation for the welfare of the public for which the committees were required. The government had decided to give the chairmanship of 18, out of 38 committees, to the opposition.

In response to a question, Mr Haq said it would be wrong to say that the railways minister had not accepted the prime minister’s decision, adding: “As far as I know, he [Mr Ahmed] only wants an interpretation from the SC over whether a person facing a NAB [National Accountability Bureau] inquiry can head the PAC. It does not mean that he is not accepting Imran Khan’s decision.”

The senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and close aide to Prime Minister Khan acknowledged that the nation was presently facing a difficult time due to the economic conditions, but claimed that the country was moving towards prosperity. He said that Mr Khan would next week announce “revolutionary measures” for eradication of poverty.

He said that friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE had helped Pak­istan in improving its economy.

The prime minister, he said, did not believe in “political victimisation” and all the cases presently being faced by the PML-N and PPP leaders had been filed by the previous governments. Even the government was perturbed over some of the actions taken by NAB against the corporate sector, but it did not want to influence or interfere in the bureau’s affairs.

He made it clear that those people who had plundered the nation’s wealth would be brought to justice.

In response to another question, Mr Haq said the prime minister had already taken notice of the shortage of gas and electricity in the country. He said the government was making all-out efforts to eliminate the menace of loadshedding from the country before the next summer.

Talking about the retrenchments in the media industry, Mr Haq said the prime minister was constantly in touch with the owners of media houses and the government was making every effort to stop sackings from newspapers and TV channels.

“It is intolerable to see people losing jobs during our government. We will stop it and there will be a [good] development within this month,” he said. But at the same time, he said the government had no resources to release advertisements to the news organisations like the previous governments used to do.

He said there were outstanding dues of Rs9 billion which the previous governments had not paid to the news organisations. He alleged that it had been revealed during the audits that some of the advertisements which had been released had not been published.

He also expressed the hope that soon there would be peace in Afghanistan due to the efforts of the prime minister. He said that US President Donald Trump had also expressed the desire to meet Mr Khan.

He said the US was presently holding direct talks with Taliban and hopefully there would be peace in Afghanistan in the next few months.

KARACHI: A banking court on Monday extended the interim pre-arrest bail of former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur till January 23 in an ongoing money laundering case.

The former president and his sister appeared before the court as the interim bail granted to them ended today. On December 21, the court had extended their pre-arrest bail till January 7 in the mega money laundering and fake bank accounts case.

During the hearing, the counsels of the suspects requested the court to order the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to submit a final charge sheet. However, the judges said that the Supreme Court has halted proceedings in the banking court. “We cannot proceed without the top court’s permission,” the judges added.

The court then extended Zardari and Talpur’s interim pre-arrest bail and adjourned the hearing of the case till January 23.

The case
The FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money laundering from fictitious accounts, including Zardari and Talpur. Zardari’s close aide Hussain Lawai was arrested in July in connection with the probe.

The former president’s other close aide and Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed a close aide and Omni Group chairman and his son, Abdul Ghani, were arrested by FIA in August.

Over 20 ‘benami’ accounts at some private banks were opened in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from where transactions worth billions of rupees were made, according to sources.

The amount, according to FIA sources, is said to be black money gathered from various kickbacks, commissions and bribes.

Prime Minister Imran Khan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on Friday during his first official two-day visit to Turkey.

The leaders discussed enhancing of relations and strengthening of economic ties between Pakistan and Turkey.

Following their meeting, the two leaders addressed a joint press conference where Imran Khan highlighted that the roots of Turkish-Pakistan relationship go back to a very long time and he wished to take this affiliation to a much higher level — “a level that so far has not been reached”.

The premier said Pakistan wanted to strengthen its bond with Turkey, not just in trade ties but also in “foreign relations, in our various attitudes to terrorism”.

He said Turkey had built over 2 million houses in the last six or seven years which Pakistan would learn from, as it was the first time in Pakistan that “such an ambitious plan has been undertaken”.

The prime minister was referring to the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme launched by the federal government for low-income individuals in the country.

Imran Khan also talked about the health reforms of Turkey and the insurance coverage of the underprivileged population, who all had access to quality healthcare, which the premier believed was “probably one of the most important aspects of a civilised society”.

Also speaking at the occasion, President Erdogan said he hoped 2019 will be a year when Turkey and Pakistan would take important steps; whether it be high-level strategic council meetings, or the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey Trilateral Istanbul Summit. “The steps that we are going to take within this framework are very important to me,” he maintained.

“Meetings between our delegations focused on defence industry cooperation, social and cultural issues, and especially [the] fight against Fethullah [Gulen’s] Terrorist Organisation,” the Turkish president said.

Erdogan expressed gratitude over the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s decision where it termed the organisation running the Pak-Turk schools a terrorist outfit.

The Turkish president further said his country will host the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan for a meeting geared toward bringing peace to Afghanistan. The trilateral meeting would take place in Istanbul after Turkey’s March local election, he said.

The prime minister is accompanied on the trip by Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Minister for Plan­ning, Development and Reforms Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce, Textile, Industry and Production Razak Dawood and Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari.

According to Turkish daily Yeni Şafak, the premier in a meeting with Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and ministry officials said that Pakistan and Turkey have agreed to cooperate in the field of health by setting up a task force.

The premier also visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — founder of modern Turkey — where he laid a wreath and signed a formal guest book, Yeni Safak reported.

As per the report, in his message Prime Minister Khan wrote that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had described Ataturk as “one of the greatest men who has ever lived”.

Earlier in the day, the prime minister met with a delegation of the Turkey-Pakistan Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey.

While addressing the delegation, the premier said that Pakistan in the 1970s “went wrong because we had a socialist mindset which became a deterrent to wealth creation.”

The premier continued that though the socialist regime stepped down in the subsequent decades, the mindset prevailed among the bureaucracy. He added that the PTI-led government, however, supports investments and is taking measures to create money-making opportunities.

He assured the Turkish business leaders of an investor-friendly environment in Pakistan under the PTI government. “We, as a government, are now making every effort to remove impediments in the way of investments,” he said, adding that a separate cell has been established at the Prime Minister Secretariat to monitor the process.

“We have already discussed the issues being faced by Turkish investors in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the current government’s top priority was the export sector.

The prime minister referred to the Chinese model as his inspiration for governance. “They [China] have taken 700 million people out of poverty in the last 30 years. Our main concern is also to take people out of poverty.”

It is expected that the prime minister’s visit to Turkey will bring some respite in the prevailing economic crunch in Pakistan as some memoranda of understanding on trade and investment are likely to be inked between the two sides.

Invitation to invest In a late-night address on Thursday to the Turkish business fraternity in Ankara, Prime Minister Khan invited Turkish businessmen and investors to invest in various fields and industries in Pakistan, including construction, tourism and exploration of natural resources.

He said that his government had streamlined the governance system and removed red-tapism and hurdles in Pakistan to facilitate foreign investors. “We want to provide ease of doing business to the businessmen and investors for wealth and jobs creation,” he said.

The prime minister invited Turkish investors and construction firms to invest in his government’s five-year plan of building five million houses.

Earlier, the prime minister and his delegation arrived in Konya.

To pay homage to Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, the prime minister and his delegation visited the great Sufi saint’s mausoleum. He also visited the symbolic grave of Allama Iqbal located in the graveyard where Maulana Rumi’s mau­soleum stands.

NAB and Nawaz Sharif have filed appeals against the accountability court’s verdicts in the Al Azizia and Flagship references against the former. NAB says the sentence in the Al Azizia case is too short.

It wants the court to increase the seven-year sentence in the Al Azizia case. It is also challenging the court’s acquittal of the former premier in the Flagship case.

Meanwhile, Nawaz finally filed his appeal challenging his conviction in the Al Azizia case in the Islamabad High Court. He submitted his appeal Wednesday morning.

His lawyer requested that until the final verdict is given in the case, Nawaz’s sentence be suspended.

When Nawaz originally filed the appeal on Tuesday, the registrar’s office raised objections against it. It said the appeal was incomplete and sent Nawaz’s lawyer back.

Anchorperson Mubashir Lucman has said that a malicious campaign against Kashmala Tariq was launched on social media after a video of her son involved in a scuffle with other boys in Aitchison college surfaced on social media.

The controversy began in April this year when 12 students, including Ms. Tariq’s son, were involved in a minor scuffle during their O-level mock exams.

Taking disciplinary action, the school decided that all 12 boys would not be allowed admission to A-levels.

“How did a video from campus make it out of Aitchison College?” said Lucman. “Isn’t it property of the school?”

He added that the children shouldn’t be used to malign parents and be dragged into political battles.

Lucman said that he met Kashmala Tariq on Thursday (September 13) and she told him that she wanted the college and its board of governors to launch an inquiry into the matter.

There were reports that Kashmala Tariq had tried to influence Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar to take action against Aitchison’s principal.

However, Ms. Tariq denies this.

I filed a complaint as a concerned parent whose son has been penalised without due inquiry, she told Lucman.

The anchorperson said that Tariq had filed a complaint with the governor soon after he had taken oath.